Year 2
by stonex
Summary: Kind of an alternate season 2. Focuses mainly on Rachel, Finn, Jesse, Puck, and Quinn, as well as some new Glee members, one who everyone hates for a good reason. The road up until their next Regional's against Vocal Adrenaline. Reviews are very loved.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- This is kind of a revised version of a previous story I had (that didn't get finished due to other things coming up). It's still technically my first fan fic and reviews and opinions on the story and writing are veeerrrrrryyyyy appreciated.**

**I still love Glee but in my opinion season 2 leaves a lot to be desired in the storyline department, so this is kind of an alternate Season 2. At the beginning Finn is with Rachel, Puck with Quinn, and Quinn is back on the cheerleading team. This first chapter is mainly introducing a new Glee club member.**

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**Chapter 1- Sister **

Rachel sat in the Glee room on Monday morning, excitedly telling her boyfriend Finn about the ideas she was going to give Mr. Schue regarding the upcoming Sectionals.

"It may be months away yet," she told Finn, "but certain members of this club, by which I mean everyone other than myself, have a tendency to lay back and think practice doesn't matter. So not true! Even the naturally talented," she smiled and gestured to herself, "have to have some kind of regular practice in order to maintain a consistently high level of performance."

"You're talented, and pretty," said Finn.

"Why thank you Finn." Rachel smiled and leant in for a kiss. Of course she knew he was barely listening, his warm brown eyes weren't completely focused, but she liked having someone to talk to even if they just pretended to listen. Someone who didn't tell her to stop talking. She kissed Finn softly for a moment her eyes shut. They had been officially going out since Regional's; as much as their loss to Vocal Adrenaline stung- personally for Rachel- having Finn now made it better.

"Very pretty," Finn muttered as they broke the kiss.

Rachel smiled again and opened her eyes. Only Finn wasn't looking at her. Rachel spun her head around to where he was looking, the Glee room entrance. Mr. Schue had entered, wearing one of his vests over a white shirt. For a moment she thought Finn was perving on Mr. Schue and although she couldn't blame him it weirded her out. But then she noticed a girl she had never seen before standing behind him.

The girl was slender and fair skinned, with wavy dark brown hair and light eyes. She was wearing a short, flowy white dress and a black jacket. She _was_ very pretty as Finn said, but Rachel hoped he hadn't been checking her out during their kiss.

"Everyone this is Luce," said Mr. Schue, bringing her to the centre of the room. She didn't look totally nervous, her arms were wrapped around her waist but her eyes moved slowly across the seated Glee club members, making eye contact. The name Luce sounded familiar to Rachel, but as Luce's eyes landed on her, she was sure she had never seen her before.

"Luce is starting at McKinley today, and she's joining Glee," Mr. Schue continued. Rachel noticed he seemed nervous, he was holding his hands tightly together in front of himself and his eyes darting around. "Let's give her a warm welcome."

"Have I…" Puck, who was beside Finn started to say. "Seen you before?"

Luce looked to Puck, and Mr. Schue started fiddling with his shirt collar. Rachel knew the signs of nervousness very well, she saw it in other members of the Glee club all the time before they performed. Mr. Schue was nervous about Luce for some reason. Was she a rubbish singer? _Oh, Mr. Schue lets anyone into Glee! _fumed Rachel.

Luce continued to stare at Puck, and then she gave a faint smile. _I recognize that smile…_ thought Rachel. The way her mouth was slightly upturned while her eyes remained focused. She tried to place the smile, which was hard because she was still positive she had never seen Luce before today. Although something about her was vaguely familiar.

"I remember you from Regional's," Luce answered Puck in a light voice. At least her voice wasn't the same tone as Rachel's. Not many people could match her voice, but she still hated competition. She didn't remember Luce from Regional's however, and she knew the names of every member of their competition.

"You weren't from Vocal Adrenaline or Aural Intensity," Rachel said to her.

"My brother is."

Rachel immediately placed the smile and realized what was vaguely familiar about her. "Oh my god you're Jesse's sister," she said quietly. Jesse little sister. He'd mentioned her name but Rachel had never seen her. Sister of the boy who broke Rachel's heart and proved he didn't have one himself. Rachel had so much in common with Jesse- talent, ambition, interests- except Rachel had heart and he didn't. Performing was pretty much everything to her, but she would never put someone she cared about in front of it. Then again, had Jesse ever cared for her?

"Jesse's sister!" Finn and Puck cried at the same time.

"What the hell?" Puck questioned, staring at Mr. Schue and holding his hands up as if he thought Mr. Schue was nuts.

Every Glee member except Rachel glared daggers at Luce, who looked down at the floor to avoid them. Mr. Schue held up his hands defensively. "Guys Luce transferred here and is a student just like all of you. And that means she has the chance to join whatever clubs she would like to, just like you all did."

"And so she'll get the chance to screw with our chances at Regional's just like her brother did?" Puck said angrily. "Screw with our members?" He looked to Rachel, and she looked away.

"Puck's right," Finn called, angry as well. "We've already done this before, let someone we know is going to betray us betray us."

"We're lucky to even be here this year Mr. Schue," Quinn said, giving her icy scowl to Luce. "Are we going to be grateful, or stupid?"

"Look I know as well as all of you what happened with Jesse. Luce is Jesse's sister, not Jesse." Mr. Schue was speaking more sternly now, and seemed unhappy with reception Luce had got.

Puck fired back at Luce, and Mr. Schue defended her as other members joined in. For years being considered a joke at school and teased by people who didn't really know her, Rachel tried not to judge people she didn't know. But Luce, she had such a clear resemblance to Jesse that it was hard to believe she wouldn't be just like him. Same wavy brown hair except longer, same eyes, same smile. The same smile Jesse had when he cracked an egg over Rachel's head and revealed he had just being using her.

She looked to Luce, who had her arms wrapped around her waist and was staring down at the floor while the Glee members attacked her and Mr. Schue got angry with them. She felt a stab of pity for Luce, Rachel knew what is was like to be ganged up on. Luce looked up and met Rachel's eyes, and Rachel couldn't help picturing Jesse in her mind. She forced Jesse's image away, and Luce was still staring at her. _Luce_ was looking at her, not Jesse. Different person.

"I think she should be allowed to join," Rachel said quietly. Even with all the yelling and angry muttering everyone turned to her.

"Rachel, what?" Finn asked.

She looked at him, and then around to everyone else. "What is Glee Club supposed to be about, aside from the singing and performing?" She raised her eyebrows at them. "Excluding people because of our own ideas about them? Who here has ever talked to Luce before?"

No one spoke for a moment.

"Rachel you were hurt by Jesse the most," Puck said. He pointed to Luce. "That's Jesse Junior. Female."

"And you're Puck junior," Rachel told him. "Did you like people guessing what sort of Dad you would be because of you own?"

He didn't answer.

"Why should we guess what kind of person Luce is based off her brother then?" she asked. "Unless this is our thing now. Putting the club ahead of the members? Ahead of those who want a chance to be a member? Sound like New Directions? It sounds heartless to me. Sounds like Vocal Adrenaline."

She turned from them and stood up. She made her way to Luce and held her hand out and smiled. "Hi, I'm Rachel Berry, star of New Directions."

Luce smiled back, the same as her brother, and held her own hand up.

* * *

Glee was more awkward than the time no one but Jacob Israel turned up to Rachel's thirteenth birthday party and he was all pervy to her in front of her dad's who thought it was cute. Luce sang, and had a nice voice, though not quite in the same league as her brother's. Jesse was heartless, but had talent to match Rachel's own.

Apparently Finn and Puck were the only ones Rachel's speech had gotten through to, along with her and Mr. Schue they were the only ones who clapped, and Puck got a glare from Quinn for doing so. Everyone else just glared at her, and Kurt and Mercedes whispered criticisms about her clothes, mainly about how slutty her dress was.

It was only a brief before school meeting, and after Luce sat behind Rachel, Mr. Schue went over some songs he was going to get the club to trial before Sectional's. Suggestions to improve Mr. Schues's choices were ready in Rachel's mind as the bell rang, although he rushed out before she could voice them, something about a Spanish test.

No one stopped to welcome Luce to the club as they walked out. She made to leave by herself, and Rachel, along with Finn and Puck, fell into step around her.

"I'm sorry about the reception you received," Rachel said as they entered the noisy school hall.

Luce shrugged. "Thanks, but it's okay, I know what happened."

Rachel nodded. "Well, okay." It was hard to tell from her voice whether she thought what happened was good or bad. Whether or not she knew her brother was the bad guy. The four walked in silence down the corridor for a moment, even Rachel unsure what to say due to the awkwardness surrounding Jesse.

Puck resorted to what he was best at to break the uncomfortable silence, despite the fact he was supposedly going out with Quinn.

"Hot dress babe," he commented to Luce, whose dress was as short at the bottom as Rachel's skirts, and low enough across the chest that her red bra was visible. INAPROPRIATE FOR SCHOOL thought Rachel. Luce was the same height as Rachel, and Puck seemed to be having no problem looking down her dress. She seemed to have no problem with it. _When it's Puck, maybe, but wait until you meet Jacob,_ thought Rachel. _And are you forgetting about your girlfriend Noah?_ "And I like your bling," he added, looking at her gold necklace.

Luce fingered it. "My brother gave it to me for my birthday." There was definite warmth in the way she said 'my brother'. Rachel was used to Jesse being referred to in a much different tone, and in much harsher language."

Puck seemed to try and move the subject away from Jesse. "So why'd you move here then?" he asked. "Hear about the McKinley High bad boys? Or bad boy? AKA, me?" He grinned at her and jabbed his finger toward himself, flexing his arm as he did. Rachel noted he'd been working out, she bet she could swing of one of those things. She blushed and held onto Finn's arm.

"I was expelled," Luce answered with a frown, then smirked. "I think that makes me more _bad_ than you, Puck."

"Why were you expelled?" Rachel asked, curious and surprised.

Luce bit her lip. "That's private."

"Come on, elaborate babe," said Puck. "Especially if it's something like sex on school property…" He was staring directly down Luce's top. So was Finn. Rachel squeezed his arm a little forcefully.

Luce smiled faintly at Puck. "Sex sex sex. What is it good for? Getting you in trouble, Puck." She raised her eyebrows at him; he didn't seem at all impressed by the comment.

Rachel knew she was alluding to Quinn. How she knew…

"My brother told me about your soap opera scenarios in Glee," she said.

"Your brother was the worst thing that ever happened to Glee Club," Puck snapped at her.

Luce stopped walking in the middle of the hall, and we stopped as well. She spun to face Puck in a vaguely dramatic twirl and scowled at him.

"So Jesse 's been talking about my business?" Puck said angrily to her. "And stop referring to him as 'my brother' like he's even half a decent guy."

Luce and Puck stared off at each other for a moment. She was small, but her stare was intense. She even put her hands on her hips and stuck her bottom lip out, reminding Rachel of a kid. She definitely had her brother's dramatic flair.

"My brother is incredible," she said, and spun around and flounced off through the crowd of students.

"Piss off then," Puck said as she disappeared around a corner. He looked to Finn, who nodded, and then to Rachel, who wasn't sure what to do.

* * *

At lunch Rachel sat in the cafeteria at a table by the window, with Quinn, Santana, and Brittany. Finn was trying back out for the football team, something Rachel wasn't too happy about. She was basically considered the biggest loser in school despite the fact she was both pretty and talented, and at the moment Finn was pretty close on the social ladder to her. But if he became quarterback of the football team? He'd be the most popular guy in school again. What the Cheerios would do if nerd Rachel Berry was dating a football player? Try to break them up. She had been meaning to try and dissuade him from rejoining, but her mind had been on Luce, and by association, Jesse.

Normally she wouldn't sit with the Cheerios as they would just tease her, but it was they who had sat with her, basically to bitch about Luce. Rachel didn't think she should have said what she said to Puck, but it wasn't like she knew how sensitive the issue was. She felt a little bad for Luce, she knew what it was like to be ganged up on. So instead of joining the Cheerios in bitching about her, she was reading a book.

But even if Rachel was willing to give her a chance, it was clear Luce being in Glee wasn't going to work. Whether she was like her brother or not, the fact that he was her brother seemed to be the problem. The fact that her brother betrayed our club and did something cruel and nasty to one of the members, and Luce thought he was incredible.

"There she is," Quinn said. Rachel looked over to where Luce had just sat down by herself at the end of a table. Apparently she'd made no friends in any of her morning classes. "God Mr. Schue was out of his mind to bring her into the club," Quinn continued, and Rachel looked back down to my book. "She's obviously up to something. Anyone else think it's weird that she wasn't in Vocal Adrenaline back at Carmel, but as soon as she moves here she joins Glee?"

Rachel snapped her head up from her book. She hadn't thought of that. Quinn was good at seeing the worst in people, and it could come in handy.

"Maybe she…" Rachel started and trailed off. "Maybe she wasn't good enough for Vocal Adrenaline?" she came up with. "She's not really that talented, and you know Mr. Schue isn't that picky about the caliber of singers he lets into Glee."

"That kind of makes sense," Santana said grudgingly.

"I don't think it does," Brittany said, looking confused.

"Not that this means I like her at all, but she's not _that_ bad a singer," Quinn said. "You really think Vocal would turn her down? And not to mention her brother is the star of Vocal."

"I guess so," Rachel admitted, but still searched for something to defend her with. "Did you know she was expelled from Carmel? She told us after the meeting. If she came to sabotage us she'd hardly go to the lengths of getting expelled would she?" she reasoned.

"Who said she was expelled?" Quinn said. "She did. She could be lying. And she probably is." She looked around the table. "Who wants to hear her lie as to why she snubbed Vocal Adrenaline and joined the club that lost to them?"

"You better ask quickly," Santana said with a GLEEful look, looking over to Luce.

Rachel looked over. Luce was sitting, concentrating on her sandwich and unaware of Karsofsky and two other football players coming up behind her.

Luce didn't look nerdy or geeky, and unless they already knew she was in Glee Club Rachel didn't think they would immediately slushie her. She watched as Luce turned around to them, just as Karsofsky tossed a lime slushy into her face. So they knew she was in Glee.

Kids started laughing, and Luce sat there with a confused look, slushie dripping through her hair, down her face, and onto her clothes.

The two other footballers each tossed a slushie onto her as well, and then all three threw their cups at her.

Luce stood up and rushed out of the cafeteria. The slushies dripping down her face made it hard to tell whether she was crying or not. Rachel had a feeling she would be, she had after her first slushie, which had been given to her by the blonde cheerleader sitting across from her.

"I hope she doesn't have a spare set of clothes," Quinn said.

"I hope Karsofsky's found a new favorite victim," added Santana.

Rachel stood up, annoyed and a little angry. "Are we not even going to give her a chance?"

"A chance to screw us over?" Quinn shot back. "You're so naïve Rachel."

Rachel stared at her. "You know Jesse wasn't the first person we had in Glee who we didn't trust," she reminded Quinn, standing up and leaving the cafeteria and a scowling Quinn behind before she could 'accidently' spill her lunch on her.

Stopping at her locker first to grab a spare set of clothes, Rachel made her way to the girls toilets, wondering what Quinn would think if she knew Puck had been flirting with Luce.

Luce was standing at a sink, still covered in slushie and with her phone to her ear. "Why are people throwing drinks on me Jesse?" she said into the phone, sounding upset.

Rachel wasn't intending to eavesdrop, that was impolite, but when she heard the faint sound of Jesse answering Luce she froze in the doorway. She hadn't heard or seen him since Regionals, and for a moment was unsure what to do. She felt like taking the phone off Luce and telling Jesse exactly how she felt about him, and how his actions were now hurting his sister. If he would even care.

She found it hard to believe Jesse cared about anyone but Jesse.

"No I won't quit," Luce said sulkily into the phone. "But you owe me heaps." She listened to Jesse some more, frowning. "Rache Rachel Rachel. Broken record much, Jesse?" She wiped some slushie off her face. "Bye, love you too." She kissed the phone and hung up.

Rachel slipped out the door as Luce started to wash her face, realizing she was exactly like her brother. They were talking about her, it was obvious Jesse still wanted to mess with her, and was using Luce to do it. But…Luce hadn't said anything that proved that, yet. _Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…isn't going to happen_, thought Rachel. She would be watching Luce carefully, and make sure she couldn't hurt Glee like Jesse did.

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**A/N- Thanks for reading! Please review! This was mainly about Luce, did you like her or hate her? She was kind of the focus of this chapter just to introduce her, other chapters will focus a lot on Rachel and Finn and also Puck and Quinn (what happened to their relationship in the show? They seemed to really like each other at the end of Season 1 and now they barely talk. ?) Jesse will also come into the story later. Review pretty pretty please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Reviews- thanks for the reviews they mean a lot! To answer some- Jesse will appear in later chapters and you'll see what he's up to, and Luce will have some scenes with him later as well.**

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**Chapter 2**

Rachel told Finn everything she overheard Luce say in the girl's toilets. He agreed Vocal Adrenaline was spying on them, but still, they had no proof. Rachel didn't think they should need any; Luce wanting to join the club was so suspicious that Rachel was surprised Mr. Schue had even let her do so. But Mr. Schue was a bleeding heart. Profusely bleeding. She could imagine Luce giving him an innocent look and him feeling like he had to give her a chance. Of course Rachel had thought the same thing, that Luce deserved the benefit of the doubt. But Quinn was right, that was naïve.

Why couldn't Jesse just leave her alone? She never wanted to see him again. _Never_ _ever?_ _Yes._ That's what she kept telling herself, but annoyingly she kept telling herself that over and over, like she needed to prove it to herself. Which was ridiculous. Jesse was shallow and manipulative, and she had Finn, who was warm and kind.

Sitting in the Glee room a few days after hearing Luce on the phone to Jesse, Rachel glared along with everyone else as Luce finished singing and took her seat. She sat right beside Rachel as usual. She did the same thing in the classes they shared; no one apart from Finn ever sat beside her and he was only in two of her classes, so in three others she was stuck beside Luce. Rachel tried to use this to her advantage and find out what she was up to, but couldn't get anything out of her.

On Monday English class, the class after she had discovered Luce was lying, she had first tried. An upset Luce slid into the seat beside her, in her stained dress that was clinging to her body and likely very sticky and uncomfortable. GOOD. "So what made you want to join New Directions, Luce?" Rachel asked with faked pleasantry, putting her acting skills to use. "Because you weren't in Vocal Adrenaline."

Luce just shrugged and started to try and untangle her slushie stained hair.

Further attempts got similar results. But now, Rachel had an idea. Through her performance, which Rachel thought was flawed on the lower notes, Luce's eyes kept flicking to one place. Where Puck was seated. At first Rachel assumed she was just checking him out as he was starting to grow his mohawk back (NEVER SHAVE IT AGAIN, thought Rachel) and looked rebellious and sexy.

Then something from when Luce first arrived came into Rachel's mind- Luce and Puck had recognized each other from Regional's. What exactly happened she didn't know, but Puck was returning the frequent eye contact. And considering this was Puck, Rachel was wondering if they had done more than just 'see' each other. She decided she would ask Puck to help find out what Luce, and Jesse, were scheming.

The bell rang, and Mr. Schue dismissed the club.

"Rachel."

Rachel turned to Luce as she and Finn stood up. "What?" she said shortly.

"My song, was there something wrong with it?" she asked. "It's just no one clapped."

Rachel grabbed Finn by the arm and left the room with him.

"I'm so sick of her little Miss Innocent act," she said to Finn. "Mr. Schue might believe she's no longer conspiring against us, but I know acting when I see it. And her acting is as mediocre as her singing." It wasn't exactly true about the acting, but Rachel was not about to admit it out loud.

"We just have to ignore her," Finn said for the hundredth time since Rachel told him about Luce. He was right though, Rachel knew if they didn't let her mess with them, there wasn't much she could do to sabotage them. Leak their song list at Regional's maybe, but Rachel already had a plan for that. Two song lists. Double the work, but Rachel thought some of the Glee members could do with the practice.

Rachel stopped at her locker, her face burned and she quickly tore down the piece of paper announcing 'LOSER' taped to the door before Finn could see. She opened the door; the inside was covered with pictures of her and Finn. She spent a lot of time on them, pasting each photo onto a piece of colored cardboard, usually pink or purple, and decorating the borders with glitter and stickers.

Finn leant against the locker next to Rachel's. "You know what this means right? That Jesse is trying to mess with us again? It means we scared him at Regional's. Vocal Adrenaline's always been good, but we're the ones who keep getting better."

Rachel tried to be optimistic but failed. Vocal Adrenaline always won. And Jesse's performance at Regional's? Rachel knew it was amazing. "And what happened last time Jesse messed with us? We lost to him."

Finn pointed to one of the pictures. It was an older one; Rachel recognized it from before they were dating, from their first Sectionals. "Since then we've had Jesse, and we've had to deal with Ms Sylvester, and look how far we've still come. How much better we are. And it was the judges that screwed Regional's up for us, not Jesse. We, _you_, bounced back from he did. And what can Luce do that he didn't?"

Rachel retrieved her Spanish books and looked up at Finn. He was looking down at her, his brown eyes so soft and his adorable lopsided grin making her feel better. This time Rachel was optimistic, and she believed what Finn said because he sounded like he believed it himself. "Nothing," she answered. "Luce isn't better than a single one of us, let alone all eleven. Singer _or_ person."

They headed to Spanish together, Finn talking about the football match tonight, his first one since rejoining the team. They passed Santana with a group of Cheerios who smiled at Finn and smirked to each other when they saw Rachel. "How do you even reach his mouth to kiss him, midget?" Santana said in her ear as she passed.

"So I'll pick you up at seven for the game? Rachel?"

Rachel shook herself. "Sure Finn." She stood on her toes to kiss him, but he still had to lean down a little. _Screw the Cheerios and Jesse and his brat sister_, she thought. She had talent, Jesse couldn't change that. And she loved Finn and he loved her, the jealous Cheerios weren't going to ruin that for her.

* * *

Quinn collapsed onto the bleachers after another brutal Cheerios practice and took a long drink from her water bottle. Coach Sylvester knew she wanted to be captain again, and was making her work for it. She was determined to get the captaincy back though, and was working her hardest to impress Coach Sylvester and her ridiculously high standards.

Santana dropped down beside her, panting heavily as well. "You look exhausted Quinn, still a little out of shape?"

"Having a baby does that to you," replied Quinn. "But Coach Sylvester knows I can handle it. I did last year."

She couldn't see, but knew Santana would be rolling her eyes and scowling. She didn't like the competition Quinn being back on the team was creating for her.

Across the football field she watched Puck tackling Finn in their football practice. They were sweaty and red faced, but it was still hot.

"God I'd love to be in between those two," said Santana.

_Keep dreaming_, thought Quinn. Puck was with her now.

Getting up from his 'wrestle' with Finn as their coach ended the practice, Puck started to chat with the Cheerios still on the field. Quinn hopped up and made her way over to him. Her jaw clenched as she saw he was flirting with them. Puck was _supposed_ to be with her. Even if they gave it up, they still had a baby together. He was even there at the birth. The few weeks after the birth he had been like Puck 2.0, responsible and making Quinn feel wanted, but lately he was slipping back to the old Puck, flirting with other girls and seeming bored by just having Quinn.

"Puck," said Quinn, him not noticing her standing there.

He turned to her and smiled, the same smile he was giving the other girls. Wasn't he supposed to smile differently when he looked at her? "Oh hey babe. Ready to cheer me on tonight? I'm gonna totally _pound_ those Green Lake High players." He flexed his tanned arm and looked to the group of Cheerios for their reaction. They giggled and smiled at Puck. "Gotta hit the showers, see ya babe. Let's go Finn." He gave her- and the other Cheerios- a wave and headed back to the school.

The other Cheerios dispersed, but Finn hesitated. "I, uh, saw you practicing," he said. "You want to be head Cheerio again, huh?"

"Much to Santana's irritation. Kind of makes it more fun, really."

Finn nodded awkwardly. He was always awkward- why a guy as hot as Finn was so unconfident she had never known- and when they were dating it used to annoy her that he wasn't more self assured. Now that she was with someone who was self assured to the limit though, she kind of missed it.

"Uh, you were good," said Finn. He looked behind him to where the Cheerios and Puck were entering the school building. "You can do better."

Quinn nodded. "I'm almost as good as I used to be. It's just my stomach muscles that get tired the most."

Finn looked back to her. "Huh?"

"I said I'm almost as good as I used to be," repeated Quinn.

Finn shook himself. "Yeah, of course. See you tonight." He turned and made his way off the field.

Quinn shook her head. Finn was sweet, but kind of dorky. Although he was right that she could do better. If she was Captain of the Cheerios once, she could be again. She headed for the showers. As she got the entrance to the girl's locker room, she saw Puck a little way down the corridor, at the entrance to the boy's locker rooms. He had his back to her, leaning against the wall, and was talking to a girl in a black dress that was sluttier than the Cheerios outfits- he was chatting with Luce of all people. She gritted her teeth. She had asked Puck why he recognized her from Regional's and his answer of 'we just bumped into each other' wasn't very believable.

_You can do better_. Finn had been talking about cheerleading, right?

* * *

Rachel stood in front of her mirror, getting ready for Finn's first football game since he rejoined. It was bittersweet, Finn being back on the team. It made him happy, but it made Rachel feel insecure. Finn was her first boyfriend, and he was again the most popular guy in school. She was the least popular girl. It was just so unbalanced, and Rachel always felt embarrassed and pathetic every time people teased her in front of Finn. She didn't want him to feel sorry for her.

She put on a pale blue dress and a dark blue jumper, and put a dark blue headband in her hair. Blue was Finn's favorite color, thought she tried not to wear it seven days a week or it would get weird, like a time when she covered the outside of her locker with photo's of them together.

The doorbell rang and Rachel finished her hair and hurried downstairs. Finn stood at the door, gorgeous in dark blue jeans and a green shirt. He never wore Rachel's favorite color, even though she got him a lovely pink shirt for his birthday. She said bye to her Dad and Daddy who were inappropriately checking out Finn.

"You know I haven't been to a game since you left the team?" said Rachel as Finn drove to the school.

"Neither have I. I heard they've somehow gotten suckier though. Quinn told me Coach Tanaka actually cried at the last game. He was begging the Cheerios to swap places with the team. Good thing they replaced him."

"So," Rachel said after a moment of silence. "This is Quinn's first game as well? Since she rejoined the Cheerios?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah, she wants it all back. You know, all the stuff she had before the whole, uh, baby thing. The cheerleading, the popularity, the…" He trailed off.

Rachel knew why. Quinn used to have Finn. Finn stayed quiet. There's no need to worry if Quinn wants Finn, Rachel told herself. He'd never want her again anyway. Same way she never wanted Jesse again. An insecure part of her, the part that dealt with boys and not singing and performing, made her ask a stupid question. "She'd never get you back right?" It didn't sound casual at all, it sounded needy and unsure. Rachel buried her head in her hands as soon as she said it.

"Of course not," he reassured her quickly. "She's my friend, nothing more. Are you worried about something happening? You know nothing ever will."

She felt his arm go over her shoulders, and she took her face out from her hands. _Two hands on the wheel Finn,_ she thought but resisted saying. Instead she smiled brightly at him. "Sorry, just me worrying too much."

He smiled crookedly back at her. The rest of the drive was silent, the comfortable kind. Rachel knew she had no real reason to think Quinn would ever get Finn back.

Rachel didn't really like football, but with Finn on the team she enjoyed the game immensely. McKinley won, just; the new Coach was clearly a vast improvement over Tanaka.

After congratulating Finn with a kiss before he took a shower, Rachel called out to Puck and made her way over to him. "Good game," she congratulated him.

"Thanks. First win in…well ages. Feels good to be back _on top_ again." He grinned at her.

Rachel ignored the innuendo, she had something to ask him. "I need a favor. _Not_ that kind of favor," she said as he smirked. "Luce is trying to mess with our chances at Regional's; I overheard her talking to Jesse about me. And you recognized Luce from the last Regional's right? I don't want details on why, but she's always looking at you, she seems to like you."

His smirk suddenly dropped. "Well of course she does," he said, not sounding his usual cocky self. He smirked again, but something about it seemed a little forced. Rachel just guessed he couldn't stand Luce either.

"So, you need to find out what she's up to, okay? I can't get anything out of her."

Puck nodded jerkily. "Sure. I'll get it out of her, the little spy."

* * *

After she finished the after match cheer, Quinn ignored Santana as she congratulated them for a good performance. Her little speech was almost identical to the ones Quinn used to give. Looking around, she saw Puck talking to Rachel further down the bleachers. Why would he want to talk to that loser? As he turned away from Rachel, Quinn saw he looked a little worried about something- maybe he was worried about being spotted talking to Rachel? But he smirked as he saw her watching him and came jogging over.

"What did she want?" Quinn asked him, nodding to Rachel.

Puck shrugged. "Just congratulating me. Are you going to congratulate me?" He leant closer.

"Eugh, maybe after you shower?" Quinn said, laughing as she leant away from him. "You stink."

He got a glint in his eye. She knew what he was about to do, she remembered last game when she had told him was all sweaty and smelly, he had wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. It was gross, but she had laughed. But then the glint seemed to disappear and he nodded. "Sure, I guess I do," he said, and waved to her before heading to the showers.

She watched as he caught up to Finn. Finn looked around at her, his brown eyes meeting her hazel ones. He gave her a smile and a wave before disappearing into the school building with Puck. Quinn would be lying to herself if she said she was completely over Finn. But it was over between them, she hurt him and now he had moved on. _Finn's just be friendly,_ she told herself. _He's a good guy_.

**A/N- Thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you thought! The next chapter is almost done it'll be up soon. It's mainly from Puck's POV and also Finn's.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it's been almost two weeks since the last chapter! (if anyone cared lol) This chapter was almost done, but I was kind of unhappy with it so I re wrote it and it took a while. I'm still not totally happy with parts that I had trouble with but telling me what you think would be great! I don't know why but in the previous chapter I realized I wrote that Finn was Rachel's first boyfriend, I have no idea how I forgot about Puck and Jesse? Anyway, tell me what you think!**

Chapter 3

Puck jumped out of bed Monday morning, stretched, and dropped to the ground to do his morning pushups. He stood up, and threw a few punches into the air while bouncing on his feet. In front of the mirror he flexed his biceps one at a time. Hell yeeeaahhh. Today he was pumped. He was going to help protect Glee club, get revenge on Jesse - and it all involved a hot girl.

It started a few months ago at Regional's. There he was with the rest of New Directions, fresh off their loss to Vocal Adrenaline and that dick Jesse. He wanted revenge, and was considering slashing the tires of Vocal Adrenaline's SUV's for a second time. Then he got a sign.

Jesse was standing with his trophy in-between the stage and the seating area; around him, congratulating him, stood a middle aged man and woman, his parents Puck guessed. He briefly considered trying to score with Jesse's mildly hot mom, which would be great revenge. Then as she moved aside he noticed the girl standing under Jesse's arm, wearing a supportive red shirt that had _'Jesse #1!' _printed inside a silver star. He noticed her resemblance to Jesse; she must have been his sister. It was obvious what he had to do. What better way to stick it to Jesse than to stick it to his sister? He and Quinn weren't _officially_ going out yet, so it wasn't really cheating.

Five minutes later, when Jesse's sister made for the toilet, Puck made his move. "Hey babe," he said, giving her his sexy smirk as she came out. "You know what would look better on you than that shirt? Me."

She stared at him for a moment, then gestured to her shirt. "He's a winner." She pointed to Puck. "You're a loser."

She bit her lip and started playing with her hair. Regardless of what she said, Puck recognized the signs that she was totally into him. And she was, thirty seconds later they were making out against the wall in a deserted hall backstage. Her soft lips worked over his, and his hands went under her shirt, trailing up her warm stomach. He hitched up her skirt, she unzipped his pants, and soon she was moaning softly with her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. _Screw you Jesse!_ thought Puck.

When Luce turned up to join Glee, it didn't take Puck long to recognize her. She kept looking at him, and he couldn't tell what she was thinking. The previous Friday after football practice he had told her she better not say anything to Quinn about Regional's- no one would believe her anyway. She had told him she didn't care, but looked upset and he still caught her staring at him in the halls and in Glee meetings.

Now Glee needed him, and he would use Luce liking him to find out what she was up to.

* * *

"Morning babe," Puck said as he got to Glee and slid into his chair beside Quinn, draping his arm over her shoulder and kissing her. A few seats away, next to Rachel, Luce sat wearing a black shirt and skirt, watching him. She ran her thumb over her lips, clearly wishing she was in Quinn's place. Getting Jesse's plan out of her would be easy.

When Mr. Schue arrived, he gave them their assignment for the week, duets. As everyone paired up, Puck looked over to Luce. There was an even number of members, she would have to go with someone, being her partner would be great for questioning her. He watched her tap Rachel on the shoulder and get shot down.

"Puck?"

He looked to Quinn, who was staring at him with her eyebrows raised.

"I said are we pairing up?"

Saying he wanted to partner with Luce would _not_ go down well, so Puck nodded. "Sure. Of course."

"Want to find something and practice tonight? Over my place?"

Puck nodded again. "Sure. Of course." He stood up with Quinn when the bell rang. He noticed Luce fiddling with the straps on her bag. "Actually," he said to Quinn, "I might ditch Math today. Algebra, when am I ever gonna use that, you know?"

Quinn's eyebrows shot up again. "Uh, maybe to get good grades and get into a good college?"

Puck stayed put.

"Ugh, fine," Quinn snapped and headed out behind Finn and Rachel.

She was annoyed, but she'd be calm by lunch time, Puck hoped. He turned around to see Luce still in her seat, typing something on her phone. "Who're you talking to?" Puck asked, crossing the room to her. "Boyfriend?"

She finished typing, flipped her phone shut, and looked up at him. "Jesse. He wanted to know how Glee practice was. I told him it sucked. Everyone's being just awful to me." She gave Puck an accusatory look.

He wasn't going to get anything out of her if she was pissed at him, so he sat down beside her and tried to be nice. "It's nothing personal," he said. "You have to admit, you joining Glee is really suspicious. You're even texting Jesse right after the meeting."

"Well, Jesse and I are close."

"I didn't know Jesse was capable of caring about anyone but himself." He knew it was a mistake as soon as he said it.

Luce narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, you don't really know him, do you? He cares about me. And about-" She suddenly stopped and snapped her mouth shut. She stood up. "I have to go; unlike you I'm an A student and I don't want to be late for class."

Puck thought there was something wrong with Luce's sentence, and she was halfway to the door when he realized what. "An A student?" he asked, Luce stopping. "I thought you were expelled?"

She turned around to him and took a little too long to answer. "I was. Why else would I be at this crappy school silly?"

She seemed completely genuine, and if he hadn't known what a good liar Jesse was he might have believed her. He had a feeling though that the whole being expelled thing was a lie to make it seem less suspicious that she was at McKinley. "If this school's so crap, and everyone's so mean to you, why did you join Glee?" he asked.

She seemed to realize what he was up to, and started to avoid his eyes. "I have to get to class," she repeated, and started toward the door.

Trying to be subtle wasn't working, so Puck decided to get straight to the point. "Okay Luce, cut the crap. You're lying about being expelled, I know it- you're not bad, just annoying. So that means you transferred to a school you hate, and joined a Glee club even though you think everyone in it's so mean to you. Kind of suspicious, huh? The only reason Mr. Schue hasn't kicked you out of Glee is because you haven't actually _done_ anything yet, but we all know you're trying to sabotage us. Because Jesse can't beat us fair and square."

Luce, who was almost at the door, stopped and spun around as he said the last sentence. "Shut _up_. Like you know me _or_ my brother, _loser_." She glared at him, then stormed out in what Puck assumed was supposed to be a dramatic fashion, but like when Rachel did it, just seemed childish.

_Loser_? Puck hated Luce, she was such a brat. She thought she could get away with screwing with Glee like Jesse? Well not if Puck could help it. He got out his cell and texted Santana and Brittany, time to get rid of Luce.

* * *

Five minutes later Santana and Brittany stood lookout as Puck pried open Luce's locker with his trusty screw driver from his bag. The door snapped open with a crack as the lock broke, and Puck started to rifle through her belongings. It was pretty basic; pens, textbooks, folders.

"Someone's coming- oh, it's only Jewfro," Santana called out from down the hall.

Puck waved the screwdriver at Jacob as he passed. "You grass on me, and I'll bring a bunch of screws to school tomorrow, and screw the lid on the dumpster shut after I toss you in."

Jacob made a squeaking noise and nodded as he hurried past. Puck resumed searching the locker, and found something promising, a note, just as Santana warned him again- this time a teacher was coming. He quickly stuffed the photo and note into his jacket, shut Luce's broken locker door, and fled the corridor with Santana and Brittany.

A few corridors away they stopped, catching their breath. "Find anything?" Santana asked.

Puck held it up, grinning. "Invitation. Fancy partying tonight, Santana?" he said, knowing the answer.

* * *

At ten o'clock that night Puck parked his truck on the curb outside a large house in the upscale area of town. Quinn hadn't been happy about him blowing off their scheduled duet practice, but this was more important. The note in Luce's locker had been an invitation to a birthday party; from a girl from Carmel High. He showed it to Rachel who confirmed the birthday girl was a member of Vocal Adrenaline.

This party was a great opportunity to find out what Jesse was up to. It would be full of VA kids, and since the party had started two hours ago, hopefully they were drunk enough to spill some details.

Santana and Rachel had come along; all were in various forms of disguise. Puck had a baseball cap to hide his trademark mohawk, Santana was wearing a top low cut enough that no one would pay much attention to her face, and Rachel had an oversized pair of sunglasses that covered half her face. Admittedly the disguises were rubbish, but it would be crowded and most VA members were probably too arrogant to know the individual members of a club like New Directions.

The house of the party was a large, modern, white two story building. The windows were lit up from the lights inside, and laughter and music flowed across the lawn. Puck, Rachel, and Santana headed up the long paved driveway to the house.

"Okay," said Rachel as they stopped by the door. "Remember we're not here to party or hook up, we're here to investigate. Find out why Luce was expelled, it might be enough for Mr. Schue to kick her out, or maybe we can black mail her out of Glee if she wants it kept secret. And also, see if you can get Jesse's plan out of any Vocal Adrenaline members."

Puck noticed her tone changed when talking about Jesse, clearly she was still not over his betrayal.

Rachel paused at the front door. "Um, should we knock?"

Santana turned the knob, the door opened. "Nope." She turned around to Puck. "Want to make this more interesting, see which one of us gets the best info and dirt on VA?"

Rachel started to protest, but Puck grinned and nodded. "What's the prize?" He looked down to Santana's mostly exposed chest.

"I _don't_ think that's appropriate, Noah," said Rachel. "You're with Quinn, remember?"

"No one cares what you think, midget," Santana snapped at her. She turned back to Puck. "We can sort the details out later." She winked at him before heading inside. Santana was cool, Puck thought. She was kind of like a girl version of him.

He started in after her, and noticed Rachel looking hesitant. "What's up Rach?" Puck asked. "Worried about breaking the rules?"

"Technically we're trespassing, which is breaking the _law_. It's just…" She looked anxious from what Puck could see of her face under the sunglasses, not an expression he often saw on Rachel. She was almost always confident, annoyingly so.

"Are you worried about running into Jesse?" Puck asked. "I'll punch him for you if I see him. It's a party, fights happen. I don't think I've ever been to a party where my guns haven't gotten put to use."

"_Don't_ start any fights Noah. We want to stay low key." She sighed. "I'm just not sure what to do if I see Jesse. Last time I saw him was Regional's, holding his trophy and looking so…smug. I don't know, what are you supposed to do when someone really screws you over? I told myself I'd just ignore him, but here I am, going to a party he'll be at. Hold on, why am I asking you advice on feelings? You were just flirting with a girl other than your girlfriend. Come on, let's get this over with."

She headed inside. Well, her loss if she didn't want his opinion. He headed in after Rachel, losing sight of her as she went into the crowded dining room. He went in, the room was full of Carmel kids drinking and dancing. After briefly looking around he saw a blonde girl standing alone near the entrance to the kitchen.

He snatched a drink off a scrawny kid as he made his way over to the blonde girl. "Hey babe," he said, leaning against the wall behind her.

She turned around, and Puck saw she was pretty good looking. He'd do her. Hell, he rarely met a girl he wouldn't. "Hi," she said, checking him out. "I've never seen you at school."

He was about to lie, say he had went to Carmel for years, but who was he kidding? He was memorable, she would know he was lying and he wouldn't get anything out of her.

"I was invited by a friend," he said instead. "Not a girlfriend, by the way." She looked happy at that. "I'm Puck. What's your name?"

"Puck, unique. I'm Hayley. So, who's your friend, Puck?"

"Luce ," he said, deciding it was a good way to bring her up.

"Oh, Jesse's sister?" she said. "You must go to McKinley then, right? I heard that's where she transferred to."

_Transferred._ thought Puck. _Not expelled. _He knew it, Luce was such a liar. "Yeah about that, I never asked her, why'd she transfer?"

Hayley shrugged. "I'm not sure, I didn't really know her. Well I knew who she was, of course. Her brother was the star of Vocal Adrenaline- that's our schools super awesome show choir. We win every year because of him."

"We?" asked Puck. This was perfect! She was in Vocal Adrenaline and totally into him, getting info out of her would be easy. He had to be careful though, in case she recognized him from Regional's, and he tugged his baseball cap lower.

She nodded, trying to look casual, but it was clear she thought being in VA was a big deal. "Yup, I'm part of Vocal Adrenaline. Vocal Adrenaline is like, the cheerleading or football team of Carmel High. So I'm kinda pretty popular. No offence, but I heard McKinley's show choir is full of losers."

Puck did take offence, and worked hard to keep the flirty smile on his face.

"I mean, at Regional's one was in a _wheelchair_, and another was _pregnant_," Hayley continued. "And do you know Jesse? Cause last year, and this is hilarious, he went to your school and joined the Glee club there, made their midget lead singer fall in love with him, then dumped her right before Regional's to throw her off her performance! It worked too. I helped as well, threw some eggs at her."

She looked at Puck as if she expected him to congratulate her on helping humiliate Rachel. He had done it himself of course, _everyone_ teased Rachel, but what Vocal Adrenaline did was just cruel. "So I guess you'll be doing the same thing this year?" asked Puck.

Hayley laughed. "I don't think so. New Directions couldn't even beat Aural Intensity- that's another team- so we have more important teams to mess with."

Puck instantly suspected she was lying, why else would Luce be in Glee and lying about being expelled? Well this had been a waste of time. He would have to see if Rachel and Santana had better luck.

Suddenly they were interrupted. "Hello Puck," came a familiar voice from beside him.

Puck turned to see none other than Jesse looking at him, dressed in black jeans, a black shirt, and black jacket. Luce stood close beside him, looking smug but slightly ticked off. Puck figured she knew it was him who broke into her locker, but what could she do about it? Tell Quinn what they did at Regional's? Quinn wouldn't believe her.

Jesse looked from Puck to Hayley, then back to Puck. "I heard you were with Quinn. Well, I guess it wasn't a very promising relationship. I mean, it started with cheating, and it looks like that's a recurring theme."

Luce laughed, but stopped as Puck stepped forward into Jesse's face. "You don't get to talk about Quinn, or _anyone_ else from Glee," Puck snarled at him. "Or I'll smash your face in."

Jesse smirked. "Puck this party you crashed is full of Vocal Adrenaline members, you're outnumbered. I guess you knew that though, or else you wouldn't have come on your little spy mission."

"I came here to find out what _she's_ doing in Glee club," said Puck, pointing at Luce.

Jesse smiled. "We're not breaking any rules. We didn't break any last year either. Just Rachel's heart."

"I'll break your _face_ if you keep screwing with Glee and Rachel," Puck warned.

Jesse laughed and held his hands out. "If you want to hit me Puck, hit me. But I say we settle this with a sing off." His eyes flicked to Hayley. "How about 'Unfaithful'?"

Puck punched him in the face.

"Puck!"

Puck saw Rachel and Santana hurrying toward him, and just as he looked back to Jesse, Jesse's fist collided with the side of his head, knocking him back. Lights popped behind his eyes and he grunted in pain. He pushed Jesse hard, knocking him back into a group of partiers. People started to yell and scream, either excited or scared by the fight.

"Let's get out of here Puck!" Rachel cried, pulling on his arm. Jesse was getting up, and a bunch of guys and girls from Vocal Adrenaline were coming toward them.

They sprinted for the exit, Santana close behind them. Out the door they went, across the lawn, and into Puck's truck. He saw a bunch of Vocal Adrenaline members coming out of the house as he started the engine and sped off down the street.

"See you at Regional's!" Santana yelled to them out the window, laughing. Puck laughed too, that had been fun. Punching Jesse had been _really_ fun.

"It's not funny!" said Rachel from the middle seat. "You almost got us all beat up!"

"Jesse deserved it," Puck said. "Don't you think?" He looked across to her. She had her arms crossed across her chest, looking cross.

"I'm ignoring you," she said, looking straight ahead. "This was _not_ how tonight was supposed to go. We were _supposed_ to remain inconspicuous. I was about to get something valuable out of a Vocal Adrenaline boy when you created a big scene and started fighting!"

Santana scoffed. "You weren't questioning Vocal Adrenaline members, midget. You were staring at Jesse."

Rachel was silent, which was unusual. "Rachel?" said Puck.

"I said I'm ignoring you!" snapped Rachel.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Anyway, it wasn't a waste of time."

Rachel quickly turned to her. "What did you find out?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" said Rachel. "No, of course that's not a waste of time," she said sarcastically. _What's up with Rachel? _thought Puck. She was ruder and snappier than usual. He wondered if it had to do with seeing Jesse.

"I mean nothing as in Vocal Adrenaline is up to nothing," Santana snapped back at Rachel. "No one I talked to had any idea of a plot against us. In fact, they don't seem to think we'll be any trouble to beat at all after losing to, eugh- Aural Intensity."

Rachel frowned at her. "Uh, are you forgetting Luce is in Glee Club? Just because no one told you anything doesn't mean Jesse's not up to something. They were lying to you."

Santana looked insulted. "You see these?" she asked, gesturing to her chest. "The guys I talked to never once looked me in the eyes." She looked happy about it. "Trust me, they told me whatever I wanted to know. And they knew nothing."

"Well that just means Jesse's keeping his plan close," said Rachel stubbornly, crossing her arms and looking back to the front.

Puck wondered if that was true. He got the same info from Hayley as Santana had got. Plus he hadn't actually seen Luce do anything to sabotage Glee, unless she was waiting until right before Regional's like Jesse. Although Luce _had_ lied about being expelled. Maybe she was just trying to seem bad?

No, he wasn't that naïve. Jesse and Luce were surely messing with them. He wasn't going to give up yet.

He dropped Rachel off outside her house, and she gave a short "Goodbye," before walking across her lawn in a huffy way.

"She has no idea how to have fun," Santana said as Puck started toward her house. "Cause that was pretty fun, right?"

Puck rubbed the aching side of his head but nodded. "Hell yeah, I got to smack Jesse. Smack!" he said, hitting the steering wheel. "Right in the face."

"That was _sooo_ hot," Santana said. Puck felt her fingers touch the place where Jesse hit him. No matter how many times Santana touched him- and did more- he always felt the same tingle through his skin. "You're going to look so hardcore with your bruise tomorrow." She laughed. "Quinn's going to _hate_ it."

That was true. Quinn would get angry with him for fighting. Quinn, his girlfriend. He shook Santana's hand off his arm, which she had been beginning to trail her arm up and down. "I can't," he said.

Santana gave an irritated sigh. "It's not such a big deal. I mean, if Quinn was that opposed to cheating, she wouldn't have done it to Finn, would she?" She started brushing his arm with her fingers, making the hairs on his arm stand up. "And she wouldn't keep looking at Finn the way she does."

"What?" Puck hadn't noticed that.

Santana shook her head. "If you paid more attention to her, you would realize she's not always paying attention to you, Puck."

"I pay attention to her," he protested. Well, he'd blown her off tonight, but saving Glee was important. He wasn't being selfish. "I'm always touching her and stuff."

He felt Santana start to rub his arm again, and he let her. "You know we always say yes to each other, Puck."

In Puck's room he and Santana fell into his bed together, a tangle of arms and legs, her warm body pressed against his. This was bad, he knew, but life worked out this way. Nice guys finished last.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading review please? Was Puck too much of a jerk? I wasn't too sure how to write him but wanted to try, hopefully it was okay.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

To Quinn's surprise Puck picked her up to drive her to school on Tuesday morning. Normally he didn't, because Quinn liked to be on time for school and Puck almost never was, so she didn't wait for him. _He's feeling guilty for choosing that party last night over me_, thought Quinn happily as she hopped into his truck. She would have yelled at him last night when she got the message that instead of coming over to her house to practice, Puck was going to a Vocal Adrenaline party, but he had just texted her. _Really tactful,_ she had thought sarcastically.

Of course getting Vocal Adrenaline to stop trying to sabotage them was important, but Quinn couldn't help being annoyed at Puck for cancelling plans they had for the sixth time since they had started dating not all that long ago.

His truck was filthy and Quinn wrinkled her nose. She turned to Puck and stared at the dark and very noticeable bruise on his cheekbone. "What the hell is that?" she asked.

Puck grinned. "I bet Jesse's is even bigger. Bruise, I mean," he quickly added.

"You punched Jesse?" Quinn couldn't keep the smile off her face. Jesse was _not_ a nice person, and as much as she disapproved of Puck fighting she was glad someone finally punched Jesse. She lightly touched Puck's bruise with her fingertips, and quickly recoiled. Eugh, bruises were still gross. "Looks like he got you pretty good too," Quinn said. "You need to put ice on it. So what happened?"

Puck told her as he drove to school. He had gone to the party with Santana and Rachel, something Quinn clenched her jaw at but didn't comment. Santana was jealous she had Puck and she didn't like the idea of them going to a party without her. She wasn't worried about Rachel, she knew Puck had previously had some kind of identity crisis and dated her, but she had a feeling he just felt sorry for her because no one liked her.

"It was weird though," said Puck. "The other Vocal Adrenaline kids, they had no idea about any plan to sabotage us. They're more worried about Aural Intensity."

Quinn thought about that as Puck drove. It was kind of weird that VA wouldn't know what Jesse was up to. It was also weird that Luce would be the one trying to mess with them. She hadn't been in VA, and she and Jesse had to know that no one would trust her, making it very hard for her to do anything to them. But they had to be trying to do something to make New Directions lose Regional's again. Why else would Luce be in Glee club? Something was floating around in her mind, she felt like she should know for some reason, but she couldn't place why.

* * *

Quinn entered the Glee room with Puck for a morning meeting. "Hey Puck," Santana said with a smile as he sat beside her, Quinn on the other side of him. "Bruise looks badass."

"You know I am," Puck said to her with a flirting lilt in his voice. _So much for him feeling guilty_, thought Quinn. Her eyes met Santana's, who gave a quick smirk. Quinn gave her icy scowl to Santana. Santana was always so jealous of her, why couldn't she back off and get her own boyfriend?

Glee practice was pretty standard, everyone took turns telling Rachel, who was beside Quinn, to shut up when she voiced one of her unwanted opinions, and by the time the bell rang she was sitting with her arms crossed and pouting. She seemed to be in a bad mood.

"I thought you'd be happy today," Quinn said to her.

Rachel turned to her. _Why does she dress like that?_ thought Quinn. She had on a blue polka dot dress, white knee socks, polished black shoes, and a pink head band with a bow on it. She surely had gotten the message that her clothes were hideous by now, Quinn and most of the school had been telling her since freshman year. "Why would I be happy?" asked Rachel irritably. "No one's interested in my improvements."

"Well, you got to see Jesse punched in the face last night," said Quinn. "I mean, you have to have enjoyed that."

Rachel shook her head. "_I_ don't enjoy violence," she said in her superior way, as if Quinn did.

"Well I bet you enjoyed the party," Quinn said to her, annoyed. "Because it's probably the first one you've _ever_ been to. Then again you weren't invited, so I'm not so sure it counts." She smiled at Rachel and patted her on her small shoulder. "So sorry, I guess that means you're still a loser."

Rachel stared at her, trying not to look hurt, as everyone who heard laughed as they headed out of the room. She turned to Finn, the only one not laughing. "Can't you say something?" Rachel asked him.

Quinn had noticed Finn didn't stick up for Rachel all the time. Maybe it was just too exhausting to all the time, since Rachel was picked on so much. Or maybe Finn was starting to get sick of her himself, and thought the criticisms about her clothes and personality, that they were both awful, were true. _Definitely the latter_, thought Quinn, as Finn was late to defend Rachel and she hurried out of the room in a huff.

"Can't you be nice to her?" Finn asked as Quinn grabbed her bag and stood up.

"I try," said Quinn. Honestly, she did. "It's just…she get on my nerves _every_ time she speaks. Don't tell me you don't feel like that sometimes."

It was good for Finn that Rachel had already stormed out, as he gave a very unconvincing shake of his head. "No," he said, obviously lying. "Well, I still love her. Leave her alone, Quinn." He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, then headed for the door.

Quinn looked around to Puck, who was still seated and talking to Santana. She caught up to Finn. "Last week you told me I could do better," she said to him. "And I _know_ you weren't talking about cheerleading."

She saw him turn around to see Puck and Santana before they entered the crowded hall. "What do you think I was talking about?" he asked, still seeming a little annoyed about her teasing Rachel.

"You were talking about Puck."

He shrugged. "So what? He's my best friend, but everyone knows he's not the boyfriend type."

Quinn felt a little insulted by that, did it mean everyone thought she was stupid for dating Puck? Well, they had a baby together, what else were they supposed to do? "So," Quinn continued, "I was thinking the same thing about you. I mean, you're the quarter back, you're _really_ tall, and even though most of the school thinks Glee club is the lamest thing ever, girls love guys who can sing. And who do you date? _Rachel Berry_. So you too can do better, Finn."

Finn stopped at his locker and shrugged. He was trying not to show it, but Quinn could tell some of what she was saying was making sense to him.

As he opened his locker, Quinn saw the photos stuck to the inside of the door, Finn and Rachel. She remembered when that used to be her, and she was suddenly hit with regret that she had screwed things up with Finn. She'd been so comfortable with him, and she missed that. With Puck she spent half her time trying to get his attention off other girls and onto her.

She realized she wanted him to know that. "We were good together, remember?" she said. "Before the- my mistakes." She immediately sucked her breath in, she wasn't used to being so forward about her feelings and wondered if she should even be bringing them up to Finn.

Finn didn't seem surprised by her question, had he been thinking the same thing? "Yeah, we were," he answered, Quinn relaxing and letting her breath out. "But it doesn't matter know. You're with Puck, I'm with Rachel, and despite what you think I really like her."

He wasn't being defensive or using a tone that said he wanted to end the discussion, so Quinn went to say one last thing. "And how do you feel about me?"

He started to answer, and Quinn stepped closer, she didn't want to mishear, this was important to her. Then- "Hey, Quinn and Finn." Brittany appeared beside her with her usual confused expression, looking between her and Finn. "I wish you didn't have such similar names, I keep getting them confused. I have a message for Quinn." She looked between them.

"I'm Quinn," said Quinn.

Brittany focused on her, held her hand up, and appeared to read from it. "Tell teen pregnancy there's a Cheerio's practice session at lunch time today, and she needs to bring her A game cause I feel like shaking things up. If you can't find her, check the empty classrooms, she's probably having unprotected sex in one." She looked up and dropped her hand, which Quinn saw was covered in blue pen. "That's from Coach Sylvester. I had to write it down, it was too much to remember."

Quinn nodded quickly, wanting to get back to talking to Finn, but she saw him already going down the corridor. "Come on," she said to Brittany, "let's get to class."

During her morning classes, as she watched Karofsky and Azimio throwing pieces of paper into Rachel's hair, Quinn wondered what Coach Sylvester meant by telling her to 'bring her A game', and 'shaking things up'. She had a feeling, and hoped, that Coach was finally giving her a chance to prove she could be Head Cheerio again. She was positive she could get the position back, now that her body was back in shape she was better than Santana.

* * *

When lunch arrived, Quinn headed out of the school building and made for the football field where the Cheerio's practiced. Santana wasn't among the girls already stretching in preparation for practice. _Awesome_, thought Quinn, making sure Coach Sylvester saw she was there before Santana. It got even better when Coach Sylvester blew her whistle to begin practice, and Santana didn't arrive until a few minutes after, Brittany tagging along.

Coach Sylvester wasn't impressed. "For once it's not Q who's late," she said to them. Quinn flushed, embarrassed. Every time Coach referenced her these days, it came with a comment about her pregnancy.

"Sorry," said Brittany. "I was waiting for Santana, she was with-"

Santana elbowed her, and briefly glanced to Quinn. Quinn looked at Santana, wondering if she and Brittany had been making out somewhere. Practice began, and Quinn really pushed herself, giving one hundred and ten percent in order to impress Coach Sylvester. She also watched Santana closely, and felt confident that her own moves were smoother and tidier.

When practice ended, Quinn got what she had been hoping for. "Well done Q," said Coach Sylvester. "You're head Cheerio again. As long as the only time you open your legs is during your cheerleading maneuvers. Got it?"

Quinn nodded. "Sure."

"Santana, you've been demoted," said Coach Sylvester casually.

"This is rubbish!" Quinn turned to see Santana glaring at her. "Cheerio's Captain is _my_ position! You can't just take it away from me!"

"_Was_ your position," Quinn reminded her. "Which I'm not taking away, but taking _back_. And it's not like you earned it in the first place." It was true, Quinn was the best cheerleader, and Santana only had got the position due Coach Sylvester kicking Quinn out for being pregnant.

But Santana was still mad, and when Santana got fired up she didn't stop. "You're so selfish Quinn," she said, her face flushed with exhaustion from practice and from anger. "When you lost everything last year, it should have made you grateful that you had so much in the first place. It just seems it made you resentful that other people have it know." She pointed to her Cheerios uniform. "I _did_ earn this, out of all the other girls Coach chose me to be Captain when you left. I also know you're jealous of Rachel too."

Quinn snorted. "Rachel? Why would I be jealous of man hands?" The other Cheerios were all watching them by now, and laughed at the idea of Quinn envying anything about Rachel.

Santana smirked, and drew her words out to give her sentence emphasis. "Because she has Finn." The crowd of Cheerios gasped. Quinn's sneer dropped off her face, and Santana's own grew, knowing she was right. "It's so obvious, you're always looking at him," she said, not sounding so angry anymore but victorious, obviously relishing in humiliating Quinn in front of the team. "Not everyone thinks you're number one Quinn," she continued. "Not Finn, since he's with the midget, and," her smirk grew wider than even Sam's mouth, "not Puck."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn demanded, suddenly feeling a little sick. She knew exactly what Santana meant. But she was lying, right?

"It means Puck and I were making out in the supply closet before this practice. And what story did he give you about why he recognized Luce from Regional's? I'm sure-"

The next second Quinn was on top of her, the Cheerios shrieking excitedly. "Bitch!" cried Santana as she tried to push Quinn off. Her cheek stung as Santana's hand slapped her hard, and she was about to strike back when her arms were held from behind and she was pulled off Santana.

"Calm down," said Coach Sylvester from behind Quinn, restraining her. "As much as I'm a fan of blood sports, I can't have my Cheerios getting damaged. Santana, go hit the showers. Same with the rest of you." Santana got up off the ground, and glared at Quinn before heading back to showers with Brittany and the other Cheerios. "And you Q," she said, letting go of Quinn. "Go take your aggression out on someone else. Make sure they're smaller and weaker than you, I don't want you getting injured." She gave her a pat on the back before leaving her alone on the football field.

* * *

Quinn made her way through the school halls, looking for Puck. Students moved quickly out of her way, she must have looked mad. And she was, she was furious. When they got together, Puck had _promised_ that he was going to put effort into the relationship. And yet he was cheating on her with Santana. And _Luce_ of all people. She knew she should have been more suspicious that they recognized each other from Regional's. _When did it happen? _shewondered. Before or after she had Beth? Before or after Puck told her he loved her in the hospital? She felt sick thinking about it.

She found Puck at his locker, a crowd of people around it. She pushed through the crowd, and saw Puck standing at his open locker. Quinn's mouth fell open a little as she saw the inside- all Pucks books, gym clothes, everything, was drenched in blue syrup. First she wondered how someone had slushied the inside of his locker, and then she saw the lock on the door was scraped and bent- someone had pried it open. Then she wondered why someone would go to the trouble of breaking into his locker to pour slushies over all of his things.

Her first thought was Karofsky and the other footballers and hockey players who hated Glee, and feared for her own locker. Then she remembered Puck telling her how he had broken into Luce's locker to find the party invite. It looked like Luce wasn't happy about that.

"Look what that bitch Luce did to my locker!" Puck said as he saw Quinn. "You're a girl, can you toss her in the dumpster for me?" Oh, he had no idea what Quinn wanted to do to Luce. And to him for that matter.

"I want to talk to you, _now_," she said, and grabbed his arm and led him away from the crowd. No way did she want her private business to be public, although since the Cheerios knew it would probably be all over the school by the end of the day anyway. She led Puck into an empty classroom and closed the door.

"Now?" he asked. "Well, I was kind of busy cleaning my locker, but I'm always good to go."

"Don't touch me," Quinn said as he stepped forward.

He stopped, frowning in confusion. "Huh? I thought we came in here to do it."

Quinn made a face. "I wouldn't even dream of it, now that I know what, who, you've been doing."

Pucks frown disappeared, and he stared at her. He wasn't denying it. She wondered if he wasn't saying anything because he didn't know which one she was referring to, didn't know that she knew about both of them. "What did, uh, she say?" he finally asked. He didn't seem scared or upset or guilty or anything, which just made Quinn madder.

"Who's _she_ Puck?"

He took a moment to answer, maybe trying to choose which one would piss Quinn off less. It didn't really matter, she was through with him anyway. "You know about both, don't you?" he asked.

Quinn nodded. "Yup. And god Puck, Santana is bad enough, but Luce? Jesse's sister? When?"

"Huh? What do you mean when?"

"I mean, you did it with her at Regional's. Was it before or after you told me you loved me?" Her voice almost cracked.

For the first time he actually looked ashamed, guilty, and Quinn knew what his answer was. "Look, Quinn-" he started, but Quinn cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it Puck. Just-" She shook her head and went past him and opened the door up. She stopped and turned back around to him. "We're breaking up, obviously," she said. "Even you're not that stupid." She gave a short, humorless laugh. "Who were we kidding anyway? The only reason we were together was because I cheated on Finn. That was the biggest mistake I ever made, but at least I learned from it, Puck. You should do the same."

She left the room, thinking Puck was probably glad they'd broken up. She wondered if she was. Puck was fun, but really not boyfriend material. Still it did hurt that she wasn't enough for him. At least she wasn't crying.

"Hey Quinn," came a voice from behind her, and she turned to see Luce fall into step beside her, a faint smile on her face.

"Choose your words carefully," Quinn warned her. "I'm so not in the mood."

She was silent for a moment, then decided to risk it. "I saw you drag Puck into that classroom. Judging by your expression I'm guessing you broke up?" She made a sympathetic face. "Sorry. I don't think you two matched very well anyway. I heard you and Finn used to be the it couple, were very nice together."

Quinn stopped and turned to face her, glad to see her flinch for a second. Again she felt like she knew what Luce was up to, but couldn't quite grasp it. "What are you trying to say?" she asked. "You're not just talking to me because you care who I date, I know you have a reason."

"I just think Finn's a nice guy is all. So must you. I heard the reason you joined Glee club in the first place was to win him back from Rachel."

Quinn looked at her carefully, and suddenly it clicked with her why Luce was in Glee. She grinned, and Luce leaned back a little, looking uncertain. "I get it," she said to Luce. "Why you're in Glee. I joined because I wanted Finn. You've joined to get Rachel, not for yourself but for Jesse. That's why you're pushing me toward Finn, so Rachel will lose him and Jesse can come in and have her. Jesse loves her, doesn't he?"

Luce shook her head, but it wasn't convincing, and Quinn knew she was right. Jesse's plan had nothing to do with New Directions, just Rachel. Luce stopped shaking her head, and after looking at Quinn for a moment, faintly smiled again. "Well, okay, Jesse still likes Rachel. And it's _so_ easy to get her alone, I've hardly had to do anything. I mean, I was going to tell you about Pucks cheating so you would break up with him and get Finn back, but Santana did that. You still want to take Finn from Rachel, and you'll probably succeed. And you're all so horrible to Rachel she would be glad to have someone like Jesse who understands her. Anyway, why would you not want Rachel to be happy?"

With a stab of guilt Quinn realized it was all true. She did still want Finn, and she knew she could, and would, take him from Rachel. But she couldn't imagine Rachel ever going back to Jesse, they weren't that horrible to her, where they? With an awful feeling she realized they were. Every Glee meeting she was called midget and man hands, her clothes were made fun of, and people groaned and told her to shut up whenever she spoke.

Quinn felt so bad, but she couldn't let Rachel go back to Jesse. He was a manipulative liar, and the faint smirk on Luce's face told her he was up to more than what she had revealed.

Luce pulled another sympathetic face. "So I guess if Rachel takes back Jesse, you only have yourselves to blame."

Already mad at her for what she did with Puck, Quinn snapped at her fake, taunting sympathy and pushed her against the lockers.

Luce was possibly smaller than Rachel, and Quinn had no trouble holding the slight girl in place as she gave her a warning. "Look little girl. I'm head cheerleader; the most popular girl in school, even after last year, not many people could do that. Girls like me can make life _hell_ for girls like you, and that's _exactly_ what I'll do if you don't leave Glee club alone. Understand?"

Luce tried to free herself, then gave up and looked up at Quinn. "You're so close that when you talk bits of spit hit me in the face."

Quinn felt like throttling her, but settled for pushing her against the locker as she let her go. "Get ready then," she said, and left her there, looking forward to getting rid of her. Luce wouldn't know what hit her.

**A/N- Thanks for reading, please review. Suggestions, thoughts, criticisms all welcome.**


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